The Scientist
by Ruby Marie
Summary: After six years on the run things finally come to an end. Or do they?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own any of it

Summery: After six years on the run things come to an end. Or do they. Inspired by Coldplay's "The Scientist"

Izzy looked around in disbelief. She could see no more than 5 feet in front of herself. It took minutes before she could find her voice. "Max? Michael? Hello?" Tears began to spill out of the corner of her eyes. This was it. This was the end, what they had dreaded their entire lives. She had wanted so bad to lead a normal existence. Her actual life couldn't have been farther from that dream. Thinking back on it all, Izzy almost laughed, surprised that they had made it as far as they had. She couldn't believe that they had spent the last 6 years running from the government and other various obstacles.

Reality hit suddenly and a surge of emotion ripped a hole in Isabel's chest. Violent sobs racked her body. She was the last one standing. Kyle, Maria and Liz were gone, had been gone almost two weeks now. Without Max and Michael there was no use in trying to push foreword and survive. Her life was empty without her brother and Michael and she didn't care whether or not she survived anymore.

The air was finally starting to clear. Isabel could see farther now. To her left she could see the shell of what was once the van, smoldering and half melted. What surprised her the most was the number of human bodies that littered the ground of the destroyed warehouse that had been their home for the last week. At least they had gone out putting up one hell of a fight.

Izzy finally managed to move one foot foreword. She slowly made her way towards the back of the warehouse, the last place where she had seen Max and Michael before they had told her to run for the van. She didn't know what she expected to find there, but it seemed the right thing to do. She stepped over the bodies of the fallen FBI agents and gradually picked up more speed until she was practically running towards Max and Michael.

"MAX! MICHAEL!"

She was lifting up broken pieces of beams and debris, frantically searching for what was left of her family. "Please, I need to find them. PLEASE!" She wasn't sure who she was pleading to, except for maybe some sort of higher power. The smoke was making it hard for her to breath, burning the back of her throat. Sweat beaded on her forehead. "Max. Michael." She was talking barely above a whisper now. Isabel felt so completely alone, her resolve to find them diminishing.

"Is."

Isabel stood completely still. She wasn't sure if she could trust her hearing or not.

"Isabel." This time louder.

"Oh my God. Michael. Michael! Where are you?"

"Izzy, over here."

Isabel recklessly threw herself in the direction of the voice, once again shifting wreckage out of her way. It felt like an eternity, before she finally removed enough rubble to reach Michael. Isabel sucked in a deep breath when she saw Michael's physical damage. His limbs were twisted in ways that they shouldn't be. He was bleeding from the abdomen as well as from the side of his head. To Isabel's horror, a trickle of blood flowed from his mouth.

"Oh God, Michael."

"Izzy."

She didn't know what to do. This was so beyond her capabilities. Tears spilled from her eye's once more in torrents. Her best friend was in pain and there was nothing she could do for him.

"Izzy, don't cry. It's okay. Really, I don't feel much pain."

"Michael, you can't leave me. Please. I can't do this by myself."

"Isabel, you're the strongest one out of all of us. If anyone can do this it's you. I….," Michael began, but was interrupted by the look of terror on Izzy's face. He tired desperately to move his head so he could see what she was seeing, but it was no use. He watched Isabel hold up her hand and shoot a blast across the room and then crumple to his side before he even registered the sound of the gun.

"Isabel?"

She laid there next to him expressionless, eye's wide open, blood seeping from her chest. Michael stared in horror, wishing death would arrive quickly. Nothing could be worse than this. A flash of intense pain erupted across his chest, signaling his new role as King. Instantaneously he knew Max was dead too.

A primal cry erupted from Michael. "I wish I could go back to the start. Make everything right; know what we were up against." His final breath escaped his lips and everything faded to black.

To be continued....................


	2. Chapter 2

Michael sucked in a deep breath. Soft light began to filter in through his half closed eyes. A vague sense of familiarity overwhelmed him, as he registered outside noises and smells. Suddenly he opened his eyes wide and muffled a surprised cry. Was he where he thought he was? The now very familiar room came into focus. Yup, he was in the trailer. His eyes widened as he heard Hank moving around in the next room over.

Michael decided that this must be hell. The last thing he remembered was Isabel lying next to him. Dead. Oh God. That was it; he died and now he was in hell. The urge to curl into a ball and start crying was surprisingly strong. At least when he was alive and living here, he had Izzy and Max to keep him going. Now there was no use.

"Michael! Get your good for nothing ass out of bed!" slurred Hank.

Michael hastily pulled himself out of bed, into some clothes and out of the trailer window. He looked around to see if he was indeed in the trailer park and not some other dimension of hell. The trailer park stood before him in all its glory. With uncertainty Michael headed out into town.

After so many years on the run, and not being sure if he was in hell or not, Michael's trip into town took him longer than usual, spending far more time on listening to the sounds around him and stealthily peering around corners and ally ways. By the time he reached the main drag of the city, he relaxed a little. Looking around, things looked the same as they had almost 10 years ago. The sign for the Crashdown loomed ahead.

Michael's heart began to race. In all the years that they had been away, he had forgotten what part the Crashdown played in their alien drama. It was where it all started; had been a place of refuge and at times the only place where he felt safe and at ease. He was now mere feet away from the entrance. To his grand surprise, he saw Max walking up to him from the opposite direction, meeting together at the front door.

"I see you were able to dodge Hank this morning," Max greeted casually.

"Hey Max," said Michael, an air of amazement about him.

Michael was stunned. Max was talking to him as if nothing had happened. As if he hadn't died. Michael was confused. If this was hell, then he wouldn't be here with Max as if nothing had ever happened. But this wasn't his idea of heaven either. He had always pictured his own personal heaven as a never ending Metallica concert with hockey. This definably wasn't heaven. Maybe he was in limbo.

Michael's thoughts halted to a stop when he caught a glimpse Maria out of the corner of his eye. There she stood in that ridiculous uniform and that pixie cut she had when he had first gotten to know her. His heart jumped into his throat when she looked his way. He had just begun his grieving for her, Liz and Kyle when they had been attacked in the warehouse. It had taken him a whole week to accept the fact that they were gone.

To Michael's astonishment Maria looked away from him with not even a hint of recognition. "This day is getting weirder and weirder. Maybe the warehouse was all a dream."

"What did you say Michael?" asked Max, a puzzled expression across his face.

"Just having a weird day."

"I can see that. Michael, what are you staring at?"

"Have you seen that couple before."

"No."

"They look really familiar."

"They're probably here for the crash festival."

"The what?!" Michael asked spitting out his drink.

"What is wrong with you Michael? The whole town has been talking about the festival for months. Tourists have been piling in all week."

"Max, you don't understand what this means. This is where it all started. This is the beginning."

Just as Michael finished his sentence the two men began to argue. Michael watched Maria scream Liz's name. He didn't even flinch when he heard the gun go off. He knew immediately what Max was going to do. This time though, the thought of stopping him didn't even cross his mind. He was right beside Max as he rushed to Liz's side.

As Max talked to Liz and prepared to heal her, Michael carefully blocked everything from view. He looked around the dinner and at the chaos. Maria was frantically trying to make her way to the back.

"Michael, it's not working!"

Michael turned around in disbelief.

"What do you mean it's not working?"

"I'm trying and I can't do it."

Michael looked at Max and saw the grief the struck his face. He had seen that exact expression only two weeks ago. He remembered thinking then that he hoped he would never see Max look that way again. It was only then that Michael remembered the searing pain that had afflicted his chest, right before he lost consciousness in the warehouse.

"Let me try."

Michael pushed Max aside and leaned over Liz.


	3. Chapter 3

Michael concentrated as he placed his hand over Liz's abdomen. He could feel the surge of heat radiating out of his hand and into Liz. Sweat began to form along his brow line. He never realized how hard this was. Immediately he had a new appreciation for Max.

"Is it working?" hissed Max.

Before Michael could answer, Liz opened her eyes. Remembering what worked before, Michael grabbed a bottle of ketchup and poured it over Liz.

"You're okay now. You broke the bottle when you fell. Please don't say anything."

Max pulled Michael up and through the dinner, sirens approaching. Everything was moving so quickly. This was not how things were supposed to play out. Max was the healer. Not only the healer, but the leader. Michael was in no way supposed to be King. Michael needed answers and fast. How was it that yesterday it was 2008 and today they were back in 2000? Why was he the only one who knew it?

"We need to find Isabel. Tell her what happened. We need to figure out how to fix this," said Max, almost as if in a daze.

"Yeah. We've got a lot to talk about. I'm pretty sure I know where Izzy is. We should go now."

Michael drove to Max's house in silence. Driving the streets of Roswell again was like moving through a dream; unless this was a dream and he was lying in that warehouse bleeding out. He shuddered and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Things were weird enough as it was. Internally he groaned. Just thinking about Izzy's previous reaction made him tired.

Michael sat in the driveway while Max ran into the house to get Isabel and thought of where he should take them to discuss the whole Liz thing. He also debated what to tell them and what not to tell them. He didn't even know if they'd take him seriously if he told them the whole truth. He wasn't sure if even knowing the whole truth would do them any good. What if it did more harm?

He was still deep in thought when Izzy and Max climbed into the Jeep. Shaking himself from his thoughts Michael threw the car into reverse and headed down the Evans' driveway and out of town. Initially he had intended to drive to the quarry, but ended up at the pod chamber instead.

"Michael, where are we?" asked Max as he climbed out of the Jeep.

"Ah, I'm not sure. Just kind of drove on autopilot."

Before Michael could say anything else, Isabel was in his arms, hugging him with all her strength.

"Thank God you're okay Michael. I don't know what I'd do if you ever got hurt and left me," said Isabel holding on to him tight.

"She did the same thing to me when I walked in," shrugged Max.

Michael looked at Max who just shrugged again.

"Isabel, are you okay?" asked Michael, prying her off of him so he could look at her face. He couldn't believe she had tears in her eyes. Did she know? Did she remember?

Isabel looked up at his face, "I'm fine Michael. I just had a bad dream that the three of us got separated. It was scary, that's all."

Michael looked hard at Isabel. Crestfallen he realized she didn't remember anything. He wanted answers and had no idea how to find them. Maybe the pod chamber would give them some answers. But when was a good time to enlighten them on that whole issue? Maybe he'd wake up somewhere else tomorrow. Who was to say that this is permanent?

"Michael, what did you and Max drag me out to the middle of the desert for?" asked Isabel

"There was an issue at the Crashdown today," started Max.

"What?"

"Liz Parker got shot."

"Oh Max. You didn't? Is she okay at least?"

"Well, actually I didn't do anything."

Before Max could finish his sentence Isabel cut him off. "You mean you left her there to bleed to death!"

"I healed her." Interrupted Michael

"Shut up Michael!"

Michael looked at Isabel surprised. "Izzy I was the one who healed her."

"That's impossible. Max is the only one who can heal."

"That's just it Izzy. I tired and I couldn't do it," explained Max, looking down at the ground as if he was ashamed.

"What does that mean then Max? Can you use your other powers?"

Max looked at both Isabel and Michael as if the though hadn't yet occurred to him. Michael wished he could tell them what was really going on, but he was afraid. Maybe the less they knew about what they really were the better off they'd be. Maybe this was their chance at a normal life. He had the power to change everything. But did he want to change everything.

"I think we should tell her."

Max and Michael looked up at Isabel surprised.

"I think she needs to know. She'll guess anyhow."

"Isabel, I don't think it would be a good idea," ventured Max.

Michael pondered a moment. Would a life be worth living without the people he now considered family. Liz, Maria, Kyle, the sheriff, and Alex. God Alex is alive. He hadn't even thought of their lost friend until now. Telling them though would mean no normal life for everybody involved.

"I think we should tell her as well," finished Michael.

"Do you realize this will change everything?"asked Max, a little more than upset.

"Trying to cover things up at this point Max, is only going to raise more questions. I think this is the best thing to do."

"Isabel's right Max. At least this way, we can talk to Liz and tell her what to say to the people who are going to be asking her questions. It's better to have her on our side."

Michael looked from Max to Isabel and back to Max. He was surprised he was getting an argument from Max instead of Isabel. Then again this day had been anything but normal.

"So we're agreed then. We tell Liz what we are."


End file.
